Tales From The Road #2 - Here I am ... On the Road Again... (Steampunk World's Fair 2012 Report)

So my life lately has been taken over by Steampunk ... this is a very good thing!

Recently that has meant:
Dorian's Parlor
Watch City
Steampunk World's Fair

Dorian's Parlor: I am the house musician.  There is general awesomeness.

Watch City: A cool outdoor event with a strong historical aspect to it, as well as cool vendors, musicians & panels!  Some things could have been organized better, but all in all, a very cool event.

Steampunk World's Fair: What an experience!!

I'd been looking forward to World's Fair for a long time ... and especially so since Wicked Winter Renessaince Faire (Wicked Faire), which was basically comparable to a religious experience for me (the culmination of which was seeing Ego Likeness)

Steampunk World's Fair was wicked and more ... there were many moments of epicness.  I had sets with Eli August and Psyche Corporation, and saturday night, I got to participate in the most epic parking lot jam with Painless Parker, This Way to the Egress, Magpie Kiljoy (of Steampunk Magazine), other members of Eli's band. and of course Emperor Norton's Stationary Marching Band, who we met across the parking lot in Showdown Style.

I largely missed the panels I wanted to go to (though I did get to catch one of Mark Donelly's panels on archery) ... particularly I'd been hoping to catch Victorian Sexuality, and Steampunk Emma Goldman, and Jaymee Goh's panels... only so much time in the day though!

Anyway, here are some cool photos from the epicness. Please note: None of these photos were taken by me - they were all publicly posted on FB.

From the 2nd Psyche Corp. Set

"Pound Your Bones Onto the Table..." The beginning of the epic parking lot jam

Bass Lady - Britney Frompovich, who I discovered by accident when she was playing beautiful music in a vendor's room

Shhh, it's a secret

Jamming with Levi Ali (on percussion) .. out of site are the dancers from The Cavalcade of Fancy Ladies

From the first Psyche Corp set ... not so sure the goggles are my look, but damn do I *love* blue lighting

Open door rehearsal for Eli August and the Abandoned Buildings ... first time we'd all met each other!

More rehearsing

Eli August in action ... also Robare Pruyn-Bush on Clarinet, and Elliot Peeples on Floor Tom

Mike Darnell - the bass player for Eli August

Moving Forward

For the last year or so, I've sort of been struggling with what to do with this blog... When I first started out, it was intense, deep thinking about cello technique & playing, and talking about artists I really enjoyed seeing live ... and part of me misses that, and wants to include it more ... on the other hand, I've largely figured out the "how-to" of cello playing (even if I need to practice a lot more), and I've become a *lot* more active as a performer (specifically in the steampunk scene).  One side effect of this is that most of the music I see these days is through that scene (or other people I'm performing with), and I don't want to necessarily be publicly critical about people I'm working with/around ... I've also been struggling with this Wandering Cellist identity, and the fact that I play in a billion groups & do solo stuff & how that all fits together ... And I've got active fb, twitter, emailing, 2nd blog, LJ, and social/intellectual/romantic components to life that take up lots of time ...

In short, I moved to NYC about a year ago, became involved in the steampunk scene & many other cool things, and didn't know what capacity to translate that too in a blog and/or on the web in general... so now I've realized the point is everything ... everything I do is united under The Wandering Cellist ... this blog will reflect that!

Onward...